Outlawed Love

Chapter 6

I ended up telling Bailey everything because I had to tell someone. I knew I could trust him. "Layla, can I speak to you about the last test." Bailey gave me that look that friends do when you have a crush just to embarrass you. Everyone had left the classroom "Yes sir you wanted to see me..." The last person had left and he looked angry. "I thought one of the main rules wasn't to tell anyone." I tried to explain myself as Bailey had just figured it out but Shawn didn't think I was being serious. "Shawn, please, you have to believe me? He figured it out, I was trying to be careful, Its not my fault your so extremely amazing to stare at." He didn't even laugh at my humour, I knew something was wrong then. "Layla, I don't think this is going to work. Me and you, its too risky. I'm sorry." My eyes filled up with tears, I could see the look on his face. I had disappointed him. I broke down into tears clenching onto my coat so no one would walk past and see my face. I looked over to Shawn, thinking will this be the end? I knew that if we were fated, we would come back together again. Maybe we would literally bump into each other or maybe we would just fall back to old habits but it was too risky. Especially as I had exams coming up. No distractions, but this was probably the biggest distraction of all. "Sh sh Shawn..." He looked so stern yet so sad "Layla, please don't cry. I already promised myself no tears. I wanted to cut it off before it got too serious, maybe one day you'll thank me as its better for the both of us." He left me there. I sat there and just cried. Night time came, the cleaners came past and said I had to get out. I didn't want to leave but what else could I actually do.

I walked the streets debating whether I should go home, maybe go to Bailey's. I did think about stopping by Shawn's house but I knew that it would only cause more trouble. I told my mum I was sleeping out tonight as I couldn't bear going home in this mess. I went to Gracies, the one place where I actually felt safe. I ordered a cappuccino and just sat there, trying to hide my face from everyone. "Is this seat taken?" I heard a deep voice say from above me. I uncovered my face "Dillon!" "Layla!" we both said at the same time. I was confused about why he wanted to sit with me. Maybe he thought I was someone else. "I understand if you don't want to sit with me anymore," He still sat down "Hey, what wrong?" He grabbed his sleeve and wiped my tear from my cheek. How do I tell the most popular guy at school, the reason I'm crying is because I had to end my relationship with my teacher... I couldn't, I tried to get a lie to come out of my mouth but the best I could come up with was "My dog died..." He stood up and gave me a hug "I know what its like to loose a companion, human or animal." For some reason he made me feel better. "Aha, I see that smile Layla." We sat there all night talking away. Drinking coffee. At least it was the weekend. Wouldn't bump into Shawn, I get to sleep, I could maybe even chill with Dillon. Who knows.

When I got home my Mum seemed upset, I shut the door and she burst into tears. "Mum! What's wrong?" She looked like she did when dad left us, I haven't seen her so sad since that day. "It's Caleb. He's gone." I didn't know what to do, I had lost everyone. My dad, my soulmate and now my little brother. Maybe I'm just the person causing all the accidents. Sometimes I wished that I just died when I hit my head on the coffee counter. It wouldn't been so much more easier for everyone. As if he could read my mind, Dillon was standing at my door. Just staring as me and my mum fell to the ground in tears, he didn't say a word. He just came over and held me. This didn't help at all. My little brother was gone, a person cant just disappear. We needed to find him urgently. I ran to Gracies thinking he might be there. My eyes still puffy from crying. As I went in, I ran to the counter asking if they had seen a Caleb anywhere. "Layla?" I heard from behind me. I knew straight away who's voice it was. "Layla, is everything ok?" I turned around to make sure it was Shawn. It was. The last time he saw my crying was when we had to end our relationship because of Bailey finding out. "Layla, what's wrong?" I fell into his arms, he just held me. It made me feel safer. I looked up "Shawn, it's Caleb, he's gone..." He looked so surprised. "Its ok Layla, we will find him... I will find him" Suddenly he cared, more than I thought he ever did.

We contacted the police a little bit later, I gathered a few people and we started to set out for a search party. I had been set off with Shawn to look around town and ask people, also to put up posters. It made it so hard as I just wanted to grab his hand for comfort. I really did get a strong urge to. We carried on looking all day, nightfall had begun to approach us. There was only one way to get to the other side of town, through the ally-way. No one went down the ally in darkness, It was a place for murder, crime and drugs. "Shawn, the only way is through the ally." I looked up "Its not too dark yet maybe if we run through we will get to the other side of town." He nodded as we began to go down the alley. I knew I would have to run soon. I sudden shiver ran through my arm, I looked down to see Shawn's hand interlocked with mine. We both started to run through. The more we got anxious, I could tell Shawn was anxious from the way he gripped onto my hand tighter, nearly crushing my bones. We finally made it to the other side.